Help! I've downloaded the bitcoin software on Windows 7... ran into the errors...backed up the wallet.dat file then re-loaded..I'm not tech savvy obviously..how do I re-integrate the wallet with the new download? Please help and be very specific...I don't want to lose my coins!

I don't understand? How do I do that? Remember I'm extremely non-tech...thanks by the way..this whole process has been frustrating...I've switched to a different wallet but I want to retrieve the bitcoins from this one...

The blockchain is a copy of all the transactions that have ever taken place in the Bitcoin network. You need to download it the first time your client starts, only. It will take place automatically, and you can track its progress in the main Bitcoin Client window, looking at the number of "blocks" in the bottom of it.

Currently there are 152859 blocks. So, once your client reaches the block # 152859 (approximately), you will be synchronized and start seeing everything normally: balances, transactions...

also the wallet.dat file is still separate from the bitcoin-0.4.0-win32-setup...I assume that's why my wallet is showing empty...how do I merge them so my bitcoins show?

hey, you don't have to "merge" nothing Dashwood, just wait for the bitcoin software, client, to download the blockchain, ~152000 blocks that client will show in the right corner next to connections. It's a bit strange that install wizard starts every time you launch the client, make sure you you do it from the newly created icon after the set-up.

edit: Try to relax, breath slowly and tell if you got at least 1 connection...

how long does that take? I'm confused...I was told to back up the program and the wallet because I was getting the blkindex error so I did...the wallet seems to be a separate file..I purchased bitcoins before I had the error message and now they're gone...

Not familiar with your specific problem, but here's a step-by-step on how to restore a wallet backup after reinstalling:

1. Install the client again (you've already done this)2. Start it by running "bitcoin.exe"3. Wait for the entire blockchain to download (you need this many blocks: http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount).You need at least one "connection" to start downloading the blockchain. The number of connections is visible at the bottom right of the original/standard/"official" client (which you seem to be using).4. Once you have downloaded all the blocks (152893 at the time I wrote this), exit the client, wait until it has shut down and paste your backup copy of the wallet.dat into AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin.5. Start the client again (bitcoin.exe) and wait a short while to see if your coins "reappear"

Actually, Therelith, it's better to restore your wallet backup before downloading blocks - the wallet balance is updated while the client is scanning the blocks as they come in; if you have downloaded the entire blockchain and then replace the wallet, it likely won't show a proper balance, and you will have to launch bitcoin.exe -rescan to have it find the missing payments.

It sounds like Dashwood is clicking on the installer over and over again, instead of launching the installed client. bitcoin-0.4.0-win32-setup.exe is not Bitcoin and is not your wallet! It is the installer you downloaded, you run it only once to install Bitcoin on your computer, and then you should not run it again. Launch Bitcoin using the Start Menu -> All Programs -> Bitcoin -> Bitcoin.

The first thing to understand is that uninstalling and reinstalling Bitcoin doesn't erase your wallet.dat file (the file with a record of all your addresses and private sending keys). Bitcoin knows how important this file is, and will leave it on your computer even after uninstalling and reinstallation; you'd have to manually find and delete it. If you launch Bitcoin, and your old address is still the address shown at top or is in the address book (in the receiving tab), then you don't need to worry about restoring anything, you are still using your original wallet.

The full location of the Bitcoin user data directory on Windows 7 is C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin, where {username} is your windows logon name. Windows has a shortcut to get there: click on the start menu button, and in the search box, type %APPDATA%\Bitcoin. Press Enter, and it will launch Windows Explorer and show you the contents of the correct directory.

Secondly, Windows 7 comes in a "dummy mode" that hides the full filename from you, which can cause big problems. To disable this, in the Windows Explorer you just launched, click "Tools" in the menu, and choose "Folder Options". Go to the "View" tab, and in Advanced settings, uncheck the box for "Hide extension for known file types" and press OK. This will prevent you from making mistakes.

If you didn't previously know this information about locating your wallet, or didn't verify that Bitcoin was completely terminated, it is likely that any "wallet backup" you made isn't actually a good backup. In the data directory, the wallet.dat file is your wallet file. This is the file that you should copy to a USB stick and put away, but only copy it after verifying Bitcoin is not running at all (not even in the tray by the clock) - if you don't completely close Bitcoin, the backup copy of wallet.dat file will likely be bad. Close Bitcoin now, verify it is closed and close it's icon in the system tray if it remains.

If the central problem is that you started getting database errors like you describe above, then there are several particular files in your Bitcoin user directory that you should delete (or simply rename) to erase the corrupted transaction blockchain and force it to re-download:1: blk0001.dat2: blkindex.dat3: any log files in the "database" directory (inside your Bitcoin data directory.)

After you launch Bitcoin, then it should get up to eight connections to other clients (or more if you have properly forwarded port 8333 in your router to your computer). It will take several hours to get all the transaction blocks; after a minute or two of making connections, you should see the block count on the bottom of the client start increasing from 0 blocks. You will only see Bitcoins that have been sent to you after Bitcoin has downloaded all the transaction blocks.

If you are getting 0 connections or block downloads don't start, first uninstall "Microsoft Security Essentials" from you computer if you have it, it is known to mess with Bitcoin. Other antivirus programs like Norton or McAfee that have firewall "features" can also mess with these connections. Finally, make sure you did correct port forwarding to your computer on port 8333, misconfiguring it can be worse than not messing with port forwarding at all.

Not familiar with your specific problem, but here's a step-by-step on how to restore a wallet backup after reinstalling:

1. Install the client again (you've already done this)2. Start it by running "bitcoin.exe"3. Wait for the entire blockchain to download (you need this many blocks: http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount).You need at least one "connection" to start downloading the blockchain. The number of connections is visible at the bottom right of the original/standard/"official" client (which you seem to be using).4. Once you have downloaded all the blocks (152893 at the time I wrote this), exit the client, wait until it has shut down and paste your backup copy of the wallet.dat into AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin.5. Start the client again (bitcoin.exe) and wait a short while to see if your coins "reappear"

Actually, Therelith, it's better to restore your wallet backup before downloading blocks - the wallet balance is updated while the client is scanning the blocks as they come in; if you have downloaded the entire blockchain and then replace the wallet, it likely won't show a proper balance, and you will have to launch bitcoin.exe -rescan to have it find the missing payments.

Thank you! This is slowly making sense...I should have studied up a bit more before I downloaded but I figured it would be as easy as most things these days...so I have been "reinstalling" all this time so I launched from Start>Programs...I've currently got 1 connection...had two briefly..and I changed "Hide extension for known file types" and had earlier deleted the blkindex.dat and the blk0001.dat so I just need to leave the app open for the blocks to accumulate?

after about 10 minutes..still only one connections...how would I "if you have properly forwarded port 8333 in your router to your computer?" I don't see that I have the Microsoft Security Essentials...

You should quickly get up to eight connections to other p2p clients. The only thing that would prevent this would be a very strict firewall policy by your ISP or firewall-type software blocking connections on your computer. Even Chinese and Iraqi users don't generally get Bitcoin connections blocked by their ISP.

When you say "I changed the port to 8333 and a connection appeared", where was this change done? Whatever it was, maybe you should put it back?

The default Windows firewall might be blocking you, it might be confused from all your reinstalling, or you might not have seen a prompt to give Bitcoin permission. Follow these instructions to ensure Windows itself is letting Bitcoin connect to the Internet.

Then as I advised above, investigate other installed firewall/antivirus software installed on your computer, it may be too aggressively blocking connections. I supposed you might even have a computer virus or malware that has screwed up your computer.